Matthew Hatton failed in his bid to emulate his brother Ricky by becoming a world champion after losing a unanimous points decision to Saúl Alvarez in Saturday's WBC light-middleweight title fight in California.

Alvarez was never troubled during the fight at the Honda Center in Anaheim and deservedly claimed a 119-108 decision to underline the 20-year-old's reputation as an emerging force.

Hatton was the heavy underdog going into the contest against the prodigiously-talented Mexican, who is now unbeaten in 37 contests since turning professional as a 15-year-old, knocking out 26 opponents. The result means Alvarez is the youngest man to win a belt previously held by such luminaries as Tommy Hearns, Oscar de la Hoya, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr – and which was vacated by Manny Pacquiao last month.

Hatton, the European welterweight champion, had hoped his greater experience in a 47-bout career spanning the past decade would prove decisive, but as it turned out Alvarez had the edge from the opening bell, landing a flurry of head shots as the 29-year-old Hatton failed to win a single round.

The fight took place at a catchweight of 150lbs – 4lbs inside the light-middleweight division's 11-stone limit. Alvarez missed the weight by 1.4 pounds at Friday's weigh-in, meaning he stands to lose 30% of his fight purse.

It also opened the door for the smaller Hatton to stand behind a legitimate reason to pull out of the fight but he had no regrets about going ahead with the bout – although he confirmed that he would now be returning to more familiar territory.

"He's a fantastic fighter but he was just too big," Hatton said. "He never really hurt me. It was just a size difference. I want to go back down to my natural weight at welterweight and hopefully I'll get another shot there. When you get an opportunity to fight for a title, you can't turn it down."